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Tim Howard

Publishing

How to Get Your Business Ready for Mobile

January 31, 2011 — Marketing is about being pro-active, staying ahead of the curve, being right at the cusp of new developments in technology and society. But the way consumers interact with the Internet is constantly changing. The biggest innovation recently has been the move away from keyword search browsing and towards social search. Following right behind is the mobile revolution. Since the advent of Smart Phones, we've been bombarded with the idea that mobile is going to change the way we all interact. The early adopters of any new technology are set to be the ones who profit most from it. So, what does your business need to do to get ready for the mobile revolution? Read More

Facebook

6 Social Media Skills you Never Knew You Had

January 3, 2011 — For some strange reason, many businesses are still afraid of social media. If that's you, don't be. In fact, the most important lesson any small business owner should learn about social media is that you already have all the skills you need to be successful. Here are 6 social media skills you didn't know you already had and how you can use them to market your small business: Read More

Publishing

Social Media Advertising: An Emerging Trend You Need to Know About

December 7, 2010 — 2011 may well be known as the year that Social Media caught up to Search in the race for Internet supremacy. Data released last week by Business Insider indicates that Google's influence over global Internet browsing is being slowly eroded by social networks. The article even suggests that Facebook might well be in a position to outshine Google in the long run as a major Search alternative. Read More

Value: The Art of Balancing Quantity and Quality

December 1, 2010 — Some time ago, we undertook an experiment. On behalf of one client we produced as much content as possible. For the second client, we tested the effect of sharing content throughout social networks. It soon became apparent that Read More

Facebook • Publishing

Top 5 Geo Location Based Services to Help You Reach Local Customers

November 30, 2010 — Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and Yelp: they're all proven performers in the field of community building and brand awareness. Oftentimes, however, our goal is not to generate interest across the globe, but across the street. Businesses that rely on foot traffic will find that their energies are best spent on local efforts; restaurants, galleries and entertainment can gain a huge following through blanket social media techniques that add value to the audience, but a worldwide cult following doesn't put bums in the seats. That's where using geo location based services to target local customers comes in. Read More

Twitter

12 strategies to pick the low-hanging social fruit

November 24, 2010 — With big companies come big plans, big strategies and big budgets. And in the world of Search and Email marketing, it's often difficult for small businesses to compete. But there is at least one place where small business can compete on an even playing field with the big boys - Read More

Tips for Effectively Managing your Time

November 22, 2010 — Time is of the essence. Almost every innovation released these days is another attempt at saving those precious seconds in our day. If you're a business owner, balancing your time between delivering your core services and marketing your business is a tricky proposition. Neglect one or over-emphasize another and there could be rough times ahead. The tips below will help you manage your time more effectively and to get things done! Read More

Twitter

Blogging vs. Micro Blogging

November 18, 2010 — This blog ain't big enough for the two of us... Long ago, (well, long ago in Internet years!), the content producing world split into two factions: Blogging and Micro Blogging.   People chose to either produce media rich content with full posts and unrestricted word counts (blogging), or quick messages that captured an idea succinctly (micro blogging). Since then, Read More

Facebook

How Big Businesses Fail on Facebook

November 15, 2010 — It's never a good idea to attack your customers Facebook is clearly a fantastic social media outpost for businesses to interact with the public. Done well, a Facebook campaign can create a warm, community feel around a brand.   But not every foray into this medium has been successful... Fortunately (for us), the Internet has the capability of freezing moments in time (ie: nothing can truly be deleted anymore!). We can use these moments to learn from the mistakes that major companies have made and avoid making them ourselves. Here are some of those moments: Read More

Publishing

Blogging isn’t for Everyone, What to do if It’s Not for You

November 11, 2010 — Blogging comes with benefits, but only when done right Until very recently, blogs were seen by most businesses as being places for rumors to generate and young people to exchange ideas - interesting forums but not particularly useful. That has quickly changed and the common perception now is that a blog is a mandatory element of any effective online business personality. That's quite the shift, and the timeline has been no more than just a few years, but is it correct? Read More

Publishing

Has Google Lost Its Voice?

November 10, 2010 — Ahh Google. Old friend, faithful ally, omnipotent ruler of the inter-web. For so long you've been infallible. You gave me Search when I used to surf. You bestowed Reader upon me when I finally found everything I wanted to see online. You track my websites, you give me reports, you tell me when I'm late for meetings and you let me edit the work of my staff while they're still writing it. I am forever in your debt. Truly. Maps, YouTube, Webmaster Tools, Blogger, Chrome...Big G, you were on a roll. But then you hit us with Buzz and and my faith began to waver. And speaking of waver...Wave wasn't such a hit either. Despite these lack lustre releases, when you announced Google Voice, I was thrilled. Google Voice. Great...on paper Read More

Twitter

Attracting the Right Followers on Twitter

November 8, 2010 — All followers are not created equal: Attracting the right followers on Twitter When I first came across Twitter in 2009, I thought “yep...don’t have time right now but I’m sure it’ll be important in the future.” So I resorted to a Twitter software application that auto-followed and un-followed random people based upon “keywords and phrases” that I happened to enter. I left the application running on auto pilot right up until the end of 2009. I returned to my account in the New Year to find something very interesting. My Twitter stats were as follows: Read More

Employees and Social Media: We All Live In Public!

November 3, 2010 — The lines that used to separate work from pleasure are becoming increasingly blurred. The workplace has changed markedly in recent years with the advent of telecommuting and varied work hours and locations. These days, when your employees leave the office are they actually leaving work? Not necessarily... Read More

Publishing

Creating an Offline Social Media Strategy

October 28, 2010 — It's official... Social Media is a fantastic way to connect and engage with your customers and potential customers. Social media allows you to reach hundreds, even thousands of people online. But unless you're selling products and services exclusively online, you'll want at least some of those people to visit your business and purchase your products and services. So how do you do that? Read More

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